Vahdam, the export-focused tea and wellness brand that counts the United States as its largest market, has managed to weather the tariff storm and grow the business to close the last fiscal on a profitable note.
The company faced intense pressure from August 2025 when all Indian merchandise, including Vahdam’s tea and wellness products, was subjected to a 50 per cent reciprocal tariff. Vahdam got a reprieve in November when President Trump dropped duties on food products to shield American consumers from soaring prices.
“In hindsight, we did well by absorbing the cost of the tariff and effectively managed to grow the business. We knew it was temporary and had to weather it out,” Bala Sarda, founder of Vahdam, said.
The company closed FY26 with ₹350 crore topline, growing 31 per cent. North America, which includes the US and Canada and accounts for 60 per cent of sales, grew 30 per cent.
Buoyed by the success, Vahdam is targeting a topline of ₹525 crore in this fiscal, as the company, which primarily started as direct to consumer (D2C) brand, penetrates deep in the markets – North America, the UK and the EU — where it is already strong.
In the US, for instance, it has started selling through big-box retailer Target, adding to Walmart and Costco in the list of retailers. A big chunk of new business is also projected to come from functional herbal supplements such as turmeric and ashwagandha, launched in the form of powder and tablets, graduating from the infusion that it used to offer.
Sarda said Vahdam’s pivot to the domestic market last year, amidst tariff turbulence, is paying off, and the company is expecting an annual run rate of ₹100 crore in this fiscal. “Share of India business, which stood at 5 per cent in FY26, is certainly going to go up, given the tailwind from wellness products,” he observed.
The expansion of the wellness range comes at a time when the market for black tea is stagnating, forcing tea brands to branch out in quest for bigger share of consumers’ wallets.